Benjamin Wallfisch

Benjamin Wallfisch – Composer Profile

Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Benjamin Wallfisch is recognized as one of the leading film composers of his generation, with a career spanning over a decade and 60 feature films. He has composed music for such legendary film makers as Steven Spielberg, Rupert Wyatt, Gore Verbinksi and Lars von Trier, and has worked on scores that have been recognized with awards and nominations at the Academy Awards®, BAFTAs® and World Soundtrack Awards.

Benjamin recently completed the much-anticipated Blade Runner 2049 with Hans Zimmer. Prior to that he wrote the score to Andrés Muschietti’s box office phenomenon, It, which became the highest ever grossing horror in the US. Other recent scores include Ted Melfi’s multiple award-winning feature Hidden Figures (nominated as Best Picture in the 2017 Academy Awards®) that he co-composed with Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer, Gore Verbinski’s psychological thriller A Cure For Wellness for New Regency/Twentieth Century Fox, Bitter Harvest released by Roadside Attractions, Mully from Academy Award® winning producer James Moll and David Sandberg’s Annabelle: Creation for New Line/Warner Bros, his third movie for the studio.

Benjamin made his scoring debut at the age of 24, composing the music for Thomas Vinterberg’s Dear Wendy. This score earned him his first nomination as ‘Discovery of the Year’ in the 2005 World Soundtrack Awards and also a nomination for ‘Best Original Score’ in the 2006 Danish Film Academy Awards. His subsequent score, for Rupert Wyatt’s suspense thriller The Escapist earned him a nomination as ‘Best Original Film Score’ in the 2009 Ivor Novello Awards and his second nomination in the 2008 World Soundtrack Awards.

The score for Summer in February garnered Wallfisch his third nomination at the 2013 World Soundtrack Awards, following its release on Deutsche Gramophone to international critical acclaim. The score was awarded ‘Best Score – Special Feature’ in the 2013 Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

Benjamin regularly collaborates with Academy Award® winning industry legend Hans Zimmer, and has been invited to compose additional music for Steve McQueen’s internationally acclaimed feature 12 Years a Slave (winning Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards®), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Little Prince. He was honored to have been invited to score the documentary short Auschwitz, directed by James Moll, produced by Steven Spielberg and narrated by Meryl Streep.

Benjamin’s other recent film credits include Warner Bros/New Line’s breakout thriller Lights Out, Pinewood’s Pressure, the feature animation Air Bound, produced by Avi Arad (Spiderman). the Lionsgate thriller Hours starring Paul Walker and directed by Eric Heisserer (Arrival), the Viking saga thriller from Vertigo Films, Hammer of the Gods, the historical drama Bhopal: A Prayer for Rainstarring Martin Sheen, Relativity’s feature Desert Dancer starring Frieda Pinto (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Slumdog Millionaire) and the BBC original movie, The Thirteenth Tale, produced by David Heyman (Gravity, Harry Potter), directed by James Kent, and starring Vanessa Redgrave.

Benjamin is also known for orchestrating and conducting Dario Marianelli’s Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winning score for Atonement and the Academy Award® and Golden Globe®nominated scores for Anna Karenina and Pride and Prejudice. He also collaborated with Marianelli on other acclaimed features including V for Vendetta, The Soloist, Eat Pray Loveand Jane Eyre. He composed additional music for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood and went on to arrange the music for the acclaimed feature documentary Life in a Day, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin MacDonald. He also composed additional music for The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins and also for Red Riding Hood, directed by Catherine Hardwicke of the Twilight series.

With over 20 acclaimed albums of his music released to date, Benjamin has performed live in over 100 concerts worldwide, leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and theSydney Symphony at venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House and Royal Festival Hall. He is grateful to have collaborated, recorded and performed his music with artists including Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock and Yuja Wang.

Benjamin was recently invited to collaborate with iconic multiple award winning artist Adele, writing the string arrangements for her tribute to George Michael at the 59th Grammy Awards.
Classically trained, Benjamin studied at the Royal Academy of Music, obtaining the degree of Master of Music in composition in 2002. In 2014 he was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.